Another Day Another Epic Adventure

By Sara Schmidt on July 24, 2013

                                                

 

 

Already it’s the second full day of camp and many great adventures have been had.  The great thing about camp is that still more adventures are out there, waiting to be sought and experienced.  While you’re sure to hear all about numerous escapades from your little campers, it’s highly possible that you won’t hear a lick about the day-to-day goings on of camp life, and what campers do each day (as considered the norm).  I know for a fact that when I was a camper I never told my mother anything but the coolest stuff.  A general camp day was too normal to consider talking about- of course I know now that’s not the case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every morning the camp bell rings twice, once at seven thirty and once more at eight.  The first bell signals everyone to wake up, the other signals breakfast. After breakfast, campers are usually treated to one of two skits: Bird of the Day or Word of the Day.  After learning either a new bird or a new word, campers are divided into their respective mentor groups and go on a hike with a mentor.  These hikes take campers all over the Preserve, from the Green River to the Balds to the peaks on either side of the Green River Valley.  Campers return from the hikes tired, sweaty, and, on occasion, soaking wet (and maybe a little roughed up due to some cantankerous Rhododendron thickets) and head straight to lunch.  

 

 

 

 

After lunch campers are treated to a short skit (featuring the Cabin Fairy) encouraging them to keep both themselves and the place they live in clean (Beauty: it’s a Woodcrafter Law). Next is naptime, or more precisely, Rest Hour. Rest Hour is easily the best hour, at least for counselors.  Unlike these bouncing balls of energy and curiosity we call campers, we like to take this time after lunch to recoup and we highly encourage campers to do the same.  The next three hours of the day are taken up by activities, chosen by the campers before they even arrive for Opening Day.  These activities include Canoeing, Fencing, Archery, Pottery, Outdoor Skills, Drawing and Painting, Theatre, and the like.  Campers have one activity each hour, and at the end of the three hours it’s time for Free Time.  

 

 

During Free Time campers are encourage to take a break from the highly structured camp schedule and engage in some unstructured downtime.  Here they find various ways to entertain themselves in the front field, such as swimming, chillin’, playing field games, reading, or otherwise enjoying the natural beauty around them, with supervision of course.  (What’re we gonna do, not supervise your children? That’d be silly.)  After that it’s time to get ready for dinner, which is followed by the ORT report (a skit involving our name brand superheroes, Ortman and Scruffy, who use their superpowers to teach campers the importance of not wasting resources).

The Evening Program is the cap to the day, ranging from activities such as Capture the Flag to Predator and Prey. It’s always a high excitement program, or almost always, and it’s always a good time. Once all the campers are tuckered out it’s time for bed, with campers excited to start the next day which will be, expectedly, chock full of still more adventure.

-Orion 

Sara Schmidt
Sara Schmidt

Sara Schmidt serves as the Administrative Director and Registrar for Green River Preserve. She is excited to be part of the GRP family in her role which focuses on “all things camper.” Her primary responsibilities include camper registration and billing, camper retention, and the GRP Camp Store. Sara also serves as the Editor of Green River Preserve’s seasonal newsletter, Whispers From The Preserve, and she manages the camper scholarship committee. Her newest endeavor is to help build GRP’s Annual Fund and partnership program.